The Cricketer takes a look at the next fixture in the 2022 Indian Premier League season
Chennai Super Kings take on Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League
The match will be played Thursday, May 12, with play starting at 7.30pm local time (3pm GMT).
The teams will face off at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Chennai Super Kings have been consistent in their inconsistency this season. Their last five matches read: win, loss, win, loss, win. While CSK's batters are coming into some form – most notably newly-appointed skipper MS Dhoni, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad – their bowling has been a problem: Ravindra Jadeja and Mukesh Choudhary not done well this season. Mystery spinner Maheesh Theekshana, much touted to be a successful overseas player, has had his moments but been inconsistent.
Neither side has has much to write home about in an abject campaign for both franchises. Mumbai Indians have won just twice, albeit picking up their second win of the year in a surprise four-run victory over Gujarat Titans, but they are all but done for.
Perhaps the only ray of sunlight for MI is the form of 19-year-old prodigy Talik Varma, who scored 61 from 33 balls against Rajasthan and top scored in matches against CSK and LSG. Varma finds himself sandwiched between IPL stalwarts Shreyas Iyer and David Miller in eleventh on the list of IPL top run scorers.
Mumbai are the only side that cannot qualify for the latter stages and CSK – who find themselves second bottom – are a loss away from confirming the same, inevitable fate. Three wins from three coupled with a better NRR than PBKS, KKR, and SRH gives Dhoni’s charges some slim hope of the unlikeliest of qualifications.
Rohit Sharma, the Mumbai Indians captain
It was to the surprise of absolutely no one that Tim David's recall to the Mumbai Indians team coincided with a rare win for the five-time champions. His treatment at a franchise so often in the past an example for others to follow has been bizarre. He smashed an unbeaten 44 off just 21 balls to propel Mumbai to a match-winning total over Titans, while Kieron Pollard struggled at the other end.
For CSK, their opening partnership of Conway and Gaikwad is leading their late season resurgence. They cannot qualify for the play-offs, but those two are showing that CSK can build on strong batting foundations for next season.
Matches: 35
Chennai Super Kings wins: 15
Mumbai Indians wins: 20
A warm day is expected in Mumbai, with highs of 32 degrees Celsius, falling to 31 degrees by the first ball of the match.
Chennai Super Kings: Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, Dwayne Bravo, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, KM Asif, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Maheesh Theekshana, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Simarjeet Singh, Devon Conway, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Adam Milne, Subhranshu Senapati, Mukesh Choudhary, Prashant Solanki, C Hari Nishaanth, N Jagadeesan, Chris Jordan, K Bhagath Varma
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, Suryakumar Yadav, Kieron Pollard, Ishan Kishan, Dewald Brevis, Basil Thampi, Murugan Ashwin, Jaydev Unadkat, Mayank Markande, N Tilak Varma, Sanjay Yadav, Jofra Archer, Daniel Sams, Tymal Mills, Tim David, Riley Meredith, Mohammad Arshad Khan, Anmolpreet Singh, Ramandeep Singh, Rahul Buddhi, Hrithik Shokeen, Arjun Tendulkar, Aryan Juyal, Fabian Allen
Chennai Super Kings batsman Devon Conway
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Mitch Santner, Dwaine Pretorius, Simarjeet Singh, Maheesh Theekshana, Mukesh Choudhary
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Dewald Brevis, Daniel Sams, Murugan Ashwin, Kumar Kartikeya, Jasprit Bumrah, Riley Meredith
The bookies make Chennai Super Kings favourites for this match with odds of 5/6. MI are 11/10 to win.
While Mumbai have won two of their last three games, they reverted to the mean in a disappointing loss to Kolkata Knight Riders on Monday, May 9. CSK have found some (patchy) form in recent times, built on their stellar opening partnership and will likely win this one to keep their slim qualification chances alive.
In the UK, Sky Sports have exclusive rights to this year's tournament, with matches available on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Cricket.
Fans in India can watch all of the action on Star Sports.
Elsewhere in the world, viewers in Australia can watch the IPL on Fox Sports while in New Zealand, Sky Sport will provide coverage.
Willow TV and Flow Sports will broadcast the tournament in the United States and the Caribbean, respectively.
Fans in MENA can catch the action on beIN Sports while in South Africa, SuperSport have the rights.
The IPL can also be streamed on Disney+ and Hotstar in certain areas.
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